Justice League United #2Review

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There are other worlds than these.

By Jesse Schedeen

Three issues into its opening story arc, Justice League United features the same strengths and flaws it has from the start. There's a lot of potential with this new incarnation of the Justice League. The general team dynamic is strong, and the lighthearted tone and cosmic setting is a welcome change of pace. But it's frustrating to see how certain characters are being handled, and the art isn't quite at the level of Mike McKone's better projects. At this point, there's little reason to expect anything to change by the end of this arc.

Issue #2 offers plenty more entertainment in the form of the Animal Man vs. Green Arrow rivalry. These two are quickly emerging as the highlight of the book, with Ollie being the self-absorbed jerk and Buddy the exasperated family man. Jeff Lemire places Stargirl in the middle as the lone voice of maturity despite her young age. Elsewhere, the Hawkman vs. Lobo conflict kicks into Round 2. Not one to let a little thing like a severed hand slow him down, Hawkman provides comic relief of his own as he clobbers a little character into Lobo's newly well-groomed visage.

Unfortunately, not all the cast fare this well. I continue to be annoyed by the handling of Adam Strange, who feels greatly diminished from his pre-New 52 self. He comes across as an ordinary schmuck who just bumbled his way into a spacesuit. And as with issue #1, Equinox appears so little she may as well not even be in the book. Given the hype DC placed behind her as the book's lone new creation, I would have liked to see her take on a more prominent role.

McKone's art, meanwhile, continues to suffer from an overly cramped sensation as his panels become too small and too clogged with dialogue balloons. The coloring is also problematic, particularly whenever Marcelo Maiolo employs the same washed-out highlighting effect that works so much better in Green Arrow. The bigger panels and page spreads are a great showcase for McKone's clean, cinematic style, but those don't appear often enough.